House Rules
'Combat' Most of the casino is very unfriendly to fighting. Any room not marked with a † is considered "guarded". When in a guarded room, any characters actively participating in a fight are restrained if visible and corporeal. There is no roll for this, it happens automatically. This restraint happens at Initiative 15, and once again every turn until the fight is stopped. Mortal characters will be expelled from the casino. Vampire characters will be brought to cells, to face trial by the Board. When not in a guarded room, fights occur as normal. However, characters have two additional options: - Fair Escape: At the cost of an Instant Action, an unrestrained character may move to a guarded room unless blocked. - Blocking Escape: At the cost of an Instant Action, they may block another character from fleeing. Make a relevant Attribute + Skill roll, contesting the fleeing character's Attribute + Skill roll. Both characters may add Casino Status to these rolls. To prevent escape, your successes must exceed the fleeing character's. A fleeing character may only be subject to one such roll per turn. If you have not acted at a point when a character attempts escape, you may announce that you wish to block their attempt, regardless of Initiative. 'Contracts' Where most cities focus heavily on clan and covenant affairs, the casino comes first in Requiem for Fortune. The casino’s political structure is held together by supernaturally binding contracts. Any character may enter into a contract with any other. However, a witness must be part of the contract. While the witness is likely to have their own biases and interests in the affair, the theory is that the witness should verify that both parties are in sound state of mind, and willingly entering into the agreement. To witness a Contract, a character must have Casino Status 1 or higher. A Contract consists of a number of Clauses. Each character may propose a number of Clauses equal to their Casino Status + 1. Each Clause is attached to a dot of a Merit that the other character does not have. The Clause takes the form of a term with which the other character violates the Contract. For example, “John cannot slander me,” or “Jessica must spend one hour per night patrolling my territory.” So long as the conditions of the Contract are met, the character receives the Merit dot in question. If the Contract is violated, all parties know, and the character immediately loses a dot of Casino Status. The other character, if not in violation, gains 1 XP toward their next dot of Casino Status or Reputation. Generally, characters that breach Contracts are shunned or at least looked upon with scrutiny in their future dealings. A character may have a number of active Contracts equal to twice their Casino Status. If they have no Casino Status, they may have one active Contract. 'Etiquette' We are playing vampires in a casino. They are inherently cooler than us. More importantly, they live by certain rules. We as players can’t always hope to know those rules perfectly. So if we as players screw up with certain aspects of vampire etiquette, titles, formalities, whatever, we can make a roll of Composure + Socialize - the highest Casino Status of all witnesses. A single success means we can make minor retcons to suit proper etiquette. 'Merits' The following Merits are allowed. Neither can be taken beyond a single dot at creation. New Merit: Reputation (• to •••••) Reputation's a big thing in the casino. It matters less who you are, and more who people think you are. Give a description of your reputation. For instance, "Everyone's Buddy," or "Loose Cannon." Once per scene, you can call on your Reputation for an advantage as listed below. • Automatic success on any action relating to your Reputation. Do not roll. You receive one automatic success per point of Reputation. • Step out of the scene for ten minutes real-time. Use your Reputation to justify improved chances at hunting. Take one vitae per dot of Reputation. • After you've made a roll, you may instead spend a point of Willpower to replace the successes rolled with a number of successes equal to your Reputation. New Merit: Casino Status (• to •••••) Casino Status is the lifeblood of the casino economy. Casino Status allows for access and privilege, beyond the rabble. Add your Casino Status to any social rolls within the casino. As well, locations are marked with a number of dots. This is the number required to access those locations without an escort of appropriate Status. Your character must belong to the relevant group to learn a devotion without a player character teacher. For instance, you must have Carthian Status to learn devotions from the Carthian book. Custom devotions will be allowed, but not before play. You must develop the devotion in-game. You'll need to post in your thread about it, and we'll talk about the details, levels, and mechanics. Retainers Note: These Types and Impulses are an idea lifted from D Vincent Baker’s brilliant game, Apocalypse World. Retainers are expressed as a type. Those are listed below, and each type has an Impulse. A Retainer gets two dice per dot of the Retainer Merit to accomplish that Impulse. A ghoul receives a dot of their regnant’s physical Discipline (the regnant chooses if they have multiple). A third level ghoul can have another dot (either in that Discipline, or another clan Discipline of its regnant). A fifth level ghoul can have a third dot. A non-ghoul Retainer can act as two types of Retainers, since they’re more versatile but less dedicated. 'Types of Retainers' Friend - Impulse, to back you up. Lover - Impulse, to give shelter and comfort. Right Hand - Impulse, to follow through with your intentions. Representative - Impulse, to pursue your interests in your absence. Guardian - Impulse, to intercept danger. Confidante - Impulse, to give advice, perspective, or absolution. Blood If you need to know how much blood you have: Take 3, plus your Haven Location, plus your Herd. Remember, you can use your Reputation Merit for a quick fix of vitae. 'Deception, Empathy, and Subterfuge' This is Vampire. Vampires must lie, and they must do it frequently. Without deception, there could be no Masquerade. It’s assumed your characters lie quite a bit. You are in no way required to tell players OOC when your character has lied, and call for rolls. That would get very boring, very quickly. However, if a player requests, they may be allowed a Wits + Empathy + Casino Status roll on any given bit of information, against your Manipulation + Subterfuge + Casino Status. The lying character wins on ties, the detector must exceed the liar’s successes to detect the truth. 'Predator’s Taint' 'Predator’s Taint has some significant modifications for the setting. ' First off, in the Boardroom, the Ebony Horse, and the City of Brass, Predator’s Taint rolls are not necessary. Anywhere else, they are. Which can lead to issues with guarded rooms. In the cases of a failed roll, both parties behave as if they failed, not just the failure. The default response is a physical altercation, fight or flight. With a point of Willpower each, the altercation can be a heavy, social contest such as a shouting match. With mutual agreement OOC, the encounter can be an intense sexual tryst. It can be off-site, however. Characters can scramble to a closet or otherwise move off-camera as they rip clothes off. What happens in the casino stays in the casino. On the other hand, characters have one new option available: They can force the Predator’s Taint. This can occur wherever. Spend a point of Willpower. Both the character and another must immediately check for Predator’s Taint. If used in the Boardroom, Ebony Horse, or City of Brass, the rolls are made at +3.